“We will record this in the list of crimes” of Israel against the Palestinian people, says P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh • ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt: P.A. scapegoating “modern version of blood libel.”

By Aaron Bandler

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas (left) and P.A. Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh at the swearing-in ceremony of the new government at the P.A.'s headquarters in Ramallah, April 13, 2019. Photo by Nasser Ishtayeh/Flash90.

Shtayyeh said that there have been “testimonies that some of the [Israeli] soldiers are trying to spread the virus on car handles,” according to Ynet. “This is racism and hatred of people who long for the death of the other. We will record this in the list of crimes [against Israel].”

Anti-Defamation League CEO Jonathan Greenblatt tweeted in response that it was “Shameful that, in the midst of a global crisis, PM Mohammed Shtayyeh is blaming IDF soldiers for spreading #COVID19 in Palestinian territories. This #scapegoating is disgraceful & a modern version of blood libel, an age-old #antisemitic canard.”

He argued in a follow-up tweet that Shtayyeh’s comments are even more infuriating when considering that the Israelis and Palestinians have been collaborating on their responses to the coronavirus pandemic; United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process and Personal Representative of the Secretary-General to the Palestine Liberation Organization and the Palestinian Authority Nikolay Mladenov said in a March 28 statement that the partnership was “strong.”

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Throughout March, the P.A., including Shtayyeh, compared Israel with the coronavirus on several occasions, saying that Palestinians are facing the coronavirus and the “occupation virus,” according to Palestinian Media Watch, a nongovernmental media watchdog group.

The P.A. acknowledged the ongoing cooperation with the Israelis against the outbreak on March 17, announcing that the two sides had established a joint operations room to fight the disease.

On Wednesday, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) delivered 3,000 test kits and 50,000 masks from the World Health Organization to the P.A.

“Once more, COGAT is cooperating closely with the World Health Organization to make assistance possible in the Palestinian Authority’s struggle against the coronavirus outbreak,” COGAT Maj. Gen. Kamil Abu Rukun said in a statement at the time. “I commend the teamwork of the international organizations in this important shared endeavor, I wish steady good health to all the residents of the region, and I hope that we will continue to work together in the fight to halt the spread of this dangerous virus.”

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